Sacramento Rail Yard
"The long-awaited Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Sacramento Railyards ... is a highly detailed document, which is designed to 'inform public decision makers and the public about the proposed project and potentially significant adverse environmental impacts that may result from the adoption and implementation of the proposed project, and to identify appropriate feasible mitigation measures and alternatives that may be adopted to reduce or eliminate impacts.' ... Another study included in the EIR relates to historical archaeological sensitivity within the entire 240-acre railyards site, which is described as having 'the potential to contain important historical archaeological deposits.' ... the Depot District, which included a Chinese neighborhood along I Street, the promontory and 7th Street, possible wharfs, an early levee, and a large portion of China Slough or Sutter Lake – a historic body of water, which once encompassed the city blocks between Front and 6th streets and G and I streets. The area, according to this segment of the report, may contain 'remains associated with Chinese neighborhood and other occupants, unique artifacts from the railyard operations, as well as historic environmental information.' ... railroad operations artifacts from the slough, which was filled in by 1910, apparently include parts of early locomotives and obsolete railroad equipment. ... the slough area also has the possibility of including obsolete railroad cars and Chinese fishing boats. ... Other historical archaeological sensitive areas designated in the EIR are: the Central Shop District, the Riverfront District, the West End and the East End. ... Pat Johnson, senior archivist of the Sacramento Archives and Museum Collection Center, recently commented ... 'The city of Sacramento has received the materials from the railyards, but they're unprocessed, so they're not available at this time,' Johnson said. 'There's about a pallet's worth with about 48 (1-cubic-foot) boxes. ... ' ... 'There is also a possibility of at least one Chinese cemetery on the margins of Sutter Lake; historical research has neither confirmed nor conclusively refuted the existence of these sites. If there are cemeteries, they may be associated with the Chinese religious buildings (in the area).' ... Those interested in viewing ... the EIR can do so through the city of Sacramento Web site ... " [More]
[Courtesy G.J. "Chris" Graves..]
posted from CPRR Discussion Group at 9:22 AM
3 Comments:
pp. 356-357
"There was also a largely Chinese settlement on the south edge along I Street, and extending up the western and eastern edges of the lake.14 This residential area is within the proposed Depot District. There was also a residential neighborhood along the east side of Depot District, on the west side of 7th Street. Another 19th-century residential neighborhood lay at intersection of the historical 1st Street west and Sycamore Street, which is on the east edge of the proposed West End District. This neighborhood appears to have been housing for railyard workers.
Early maps show a promontory extending into Sutter Lake from the west. There are buildings on the promontory that may have been Chinese-occupied laundries and/or fishing stations. In 1870 two bridges connected the promontory’s tip with I Street to the south and the railyard shops to the north. This passage, by which railroad employees crossed the lake, was dubbed the 'Bridge of Sighs' because of the smell from the lake.
While the most substantial buildings are located in the proposed Central Shops District, the rest of the railyard contained numerous other structures and buildings, including storage facilities, a car shop complex, and a scrap dock.18 At least two industrial facilities unrelated to the railyard lay along the Sacramento River waterfront: the Sacramento Gas Works and the Pioneer/Sperry grain mill and warehouse. Remnants of these two facilities have been identified in subsequent archaeological work."
See "Railyard shops cleanup, preservation underway."
"The Central Shop District will adapt the eight historic buildings from the Central Pacific Railroad Yard for retail space. The Alchemist, a public market, is also excited to be in the space."
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